Sania Mirza will get Khel Ratna on August 29 as scheduled: official

August 28, 2015

New Delhi, Aug 28: The Sports Ministry has decided to go ahead with it's original decision to confer the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Sania Mirza on August 29. This, despite the Karnataka High Court issuing notices to the government and tennis ace over the petition filed by Paralympian HN Girisha, who has challenged the recommendation of the awards selection panel.

SaniaA senior ministry official told dna that the court's notice will not cast any shadow on the awards ceremony on August 29 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and that the original awards list will be implemented in totality.

"The ministry will not make any last-minute changes to the awards list. Sania will get the Khel Ratna as per the awards committee's recommendation. The decision is final," a senior official said on Thursday.

The official informed that the ministry has received the court notice on Thursday and will be filing its reply within the stipulated 15 days. "Yes, we have received the notice. We will give reply to the notice in due course. The ministry will frame its reply after going through the contents of it. We will explain out everything to the court," the official added.

Justice AS Bopanna of the Karnataka High Court has sought reply from the ministry as to why Girisha's name was overlooked in favour of Sania, considering the points system being implemented by the Union government.

Girisha, 2012 London Paralympic silver medallist, had contended in his plea that he deserved to win the coveted award more than Sania because he was the top candidate with 90 points against his name and the tennis star was far behind him as per performance-based points system.

Girisha said Sania's Wimbledon doubles crown would not be counted for the coveted award as it was not included in the events mentioned in the government notification for awarding Khel Ratna. He said the ministry should consider a sportsperson's name for the award taking into account performances at the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships from 2011.

Sania, who won her first women's doubles Grand Slam title by lifting the Wimbledon crown with Swiss partner Martina Hingis in June, was recommended for the country's highest sporting honour by a government-appointed selection panel. The sports ministry has also given its approval on Sania getting the coveted award.

The ministry's decision has come at a time when at least five disgruntled athletes have filed court cases challenging the recommendations of the awards committee.

While Seema Antil (discus throw), Vinod Kumar (wrestling coach), KC Lekha (woman boxer), Shaik Abdul Hameed (ten-pin bowling) and Girisha have already filed the cases in different courts, dope-tainted weightlifting coach Shyamala Shetty will be approaching the judiciary on Monday against the ministry's decision to drop her name from the Dronacharya award list.

"This is the most contentious awards ceremony ever seen where athletes are hankering for Khel Ratna or Arjuna award. This year's award ceremony is engulfed by so many court cases that it has itself demeaned the value of the honour," said the official.

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News Network
May 14,2020

New Delhi, May 14: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an unconventional and unique leader, whose biggest strength is his incredible gut feeling, says his Chennai Super Kings teammate Faf du Plessis.

The former South Africa skipper has spent considerable time with Dhoni after joining the Indian Premier League (IPL) side in 2011 and has been an integral part of its successful journey.

"He reads the others player really well and he uses that to make instinctive decisions on the field. He's got an incredible gut feeling on the game and I think that's his biggest strength," du Plessis said in a Facebook live session with Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal.

The 35-year-old said Dhoni changed his perception of how a captain should be.

"It was amazing for me to see how different M S was as a captain. I used to think a captain must speak all the time in team meetings etc but M S was completely different.

"He doesn't believe a lot in team meetings. He's a very instinctive captain he's got such a good cricket brain that he relies on it to make the right decisions on the field," du Plessis said of former India skipper.

Dhoni last played for India in World Cup semifinal last year and was expected to be back to playing competitive cricket at now-postponed IPL.

Calling Dhoni the best finisher he has played with, Du Plessis said no one can emulate what the dasher from Ranchi can do with the bat.

"He's extremely calm. I haven't played with someone who is a better finisher than him. It's just remarkable to watch him from the side of the field."

"If someone else tries to do it like him they won't be able to. He's just so unique like he times the ball so late he's got an incredible calmness. He knows his game and he picks a bowler and goes for it."

Du Plessis said that playing for CSK alongside Dhoni and under the guidance head coach Stephen Fleming has taught him a lot about leadership.

"I'm lucky to have started my journey there at CSK because I have really learned a lot from a leadership point of view. I tried to learn as much as possible from Dhoni and Stephen Fleming because both are great captains."

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: Thrilled after getting to know about Hardik Pandya and Natasa Stankovic's engagement, skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday called it a "pleasant surprise".

Extending his best wishes to the newly-engaged couple, Kohli posted a comment on Pandya's Instagram post which read, "Congratulations H. What a pleasant surprise. Wish you guys great times ahead. God bless".

On the first day of the New Year 2020, Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share the photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On the work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from the Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show Bigg Boss 8.

In 2019, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had confirmed that Pandya had had lower-back surgery in London.

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar on Friday donated Rs 50 lakh to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed 17 Indian lives and wreaked havoc globally.

Tendulkar's donation is so far the biggest contribution among India's leading sportspersons, some of whom have pledged their salaries while a few others have donated medical equipment to fight the dreaded outbreak, which has caused more than 24,000 deaths globally.

"Sachin Tendulkar decided to contribute Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister's Relief Fund and Chief Minister's Relief Fund in his bid to join the fight against COVID-19. It was his decision that he wanted to contribute to both funds," a source privy to the development, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Tendulkar has been associated with a lot of charity work and there has been umpteen times, he has taken up social causes, helped people, which has never been brought to public notice.

Among other prominent cricketers, the Pathan brothers -- Irfan and Yusuf -- donated 4000 face masks to Baroda police and health department while Mahendra Singh Dhoni, through a Pune based NGO, made a contribution of Rs 1 lakh.

Among athletes from other disciplines, wrestler Bajrang Punia and sprinter Hima Das are some of the prominent names to have donated their salaries in the battle against the dreaded virus which has led to a 21-day national lockdown.

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